This Day in 1913 in The Record: March 7, 1913

Friday, March 7, 1913. Basketball season is winding down in Troy with the city's professional team coasting toward another championship and the RPI five licking its wounds.

Troy's New York State League club, widely considered one of the best in the country, has clinched its third consecutive title, dating back to the 1910-11 Hudson River League crown. The champs face down another tough challenge from second-place Kingston at the Troy Armory tonight.

"Probably every one at some time or other has seen a self-confident pup vainly try to bite his own tail," a Record sportswriter opens his report, "The performance must have proved interesting to everyone, including the pup. Well, the spectacle of the teeth chasing the tail reminded one of the game between Troy and Kingston." That comment is our writer's tribute to Kingston's aggressive futility.

Advertisement

The game is scoreless for the first four minutes before Troy forward Ed Wachter puts the home team on the board with a free throw. Kingston quickly takes the lead, however, and only trails by four points after a back-and-forth first period.

"The final dash into the stretch found Kingston making things hum" with six unanswered points that put them back in the lead. The baskets come "in such rapid succession that the fans commenced to wonder if the home team had shot its bolt." But after some rough action - our writer says the referee is "taking it easy" by calling only 14 fouls - the Trojans pull away late for a 41-28 victory. Troy left forward Chief Muller leads all scorers with 13 points.

On the amateur front, RPI's basketball season ends with an "overwhelming defeat" at the hands of Wesleyan University. The Cherry and White haven't lived up to the promise of their new state-of-the-art facility at the Class of '87 gymnasium. If anything, our reporter suggests, "The large court that the home team counted on from the beginning of the season has been a detriment in almost every instance, not because the Cherry five were not capable of covering it, but because they have been afraid to venture away from their own basket."

The new court has benefited the team and the school in other ways. Our writer calls it "the greatest asset which is accountable for the financial success of the season. This building has been envied and admired by all of the visiting teams and has been a means of drawing the largest crowds that have ever witnessed intercollegiate basketball in this city."

The last game of a tough schedule ends with Wesleyan leading 19-8 at halftime and coasting to a 41-22 victory.